EMC Buys Change Management Specialist

EMC continued on its M&A tear today, with the vendor snapping up change management specialist Voyence for a rumored $100 million in an attempt to bolster its Smarts technology.

Voyence, which plays in the same space as Opsware, already partners with EMC around the vendor's Smarts technology, and there will now be tighter integration between the two product lines, particularly in incident and problem management.

Voyence's flagship product is VoyenceControl, a software solution that manages devices such as storage directors, routers, firewalls, switches, and load balancers.

Demand for this type of technology is growing, as users look for ways to automate management and device configuration across increasingly complex data center networks.

Last year, for example, Voyence signed a deal with HP to license its technology, which is now offered as the OpenView Network Configuration Manager. Voyence also partners with IBM and Cisco.This is not the first time EMC has entered the change management space; it follows the vendor's $175 million purchase of Network Intelligence last year.

Although EMC refused to put a dollar amount on the Voyence acquisition, analyst firm RW Baird says it is probably much less than the value of the Network Intelligence deal.

"EMC likely had to pay up to $100 million to acquire the company," wrote analyst Daniel Renouard in a note earlier today. "HP, IBM, and Cisco were also partnered with Voyence and may have been interested in acquiring the company given the current level of interest around data center management tools."

Although Voyence does not break out its financials, Renouard estimates that the firm's annual revenues are over $10 million.

EMC is also getting its hands on Voyence's 100-strong customer base, which includes big name companies such as BT, Motorola, and education management consultancy Apollo Group.So what's next for Voyence as it joins EMC? EMC isn't giving specifics, but spokesman Craig Librett says VoyenceControl will continue to be sold as a standalone product. Voyence's management team and the bulk of the company's workforce will move to EMC, although the vendor will keep open Voyence's HQ in Richardson, Texas.

"There will be some areas of overlap, but the primary focus is about expanding and growing in terms of people and technology," says Librett, explaining that Voyence will now become part of the vendor's resource management business unit.

Voyence CEO Susan Nash will now report directly to Chris Gahagan, EMC's senior vice president of resource management software.

The Voyence acquisition reflects EMC's desire to expand its reach beyond just storage, as well as the company's ongoing strategy of buying smaller firms that can be quickly integrated into its existing product line.

EMC CEO Joe Tucci has already outlined his plans for what he describes as "one EMC," pulling together the firm's myriad of acquired technologies into a single, cohesive unit. Increasingly, the vendor is marketing itself as an "information infrastructure" company, pushing technologies such as network management, security, and document management on top of its core storage business.Other recent EMC deals include the $76 million acquisition of online backup specialist Mozy and the purchase of security specialist Tablus for an estimated $40 million.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.